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Elsie Belle
Elisabeth "Elsie" Belle (1877-1960) was a singer, actress, and author best known for her work in music halls during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early Life Born Elisabeth Eleanor Pye on 31st June, 1877 in the area of London then known as the Liberty of Norton Folgate, Elsie was the daughter of Dr. Alisdair Pye and his first wife, Elisabeth (née Wrightham). The difficult delivery was attended by the father, as well as his mentor, Dr. Abraham Poore, and Victoria Folton, the daughter of local "businessman" John Folton. The mother died perhaps an hour after the birth, and the child was weak enough that a minister, the Rev. H.W. Brawn, was called for by dawn in order to baptise the seemingly dying infant. In spite of early weakness, the baby girl survived. She was given to the care, briefly, of Victoria Folton and her cousin (and fiancé,) James Treewell, and then following the sudden death of Victoria, passed into the hands of a local wetnurse, Melora ShaneIt seems quite possible that Miss Shane may well have been related either to Dr. Pye or his late wife. Elsie was at least raised with the knowledge that "she was my Auntie, right and proper, like Auntie Emily who raised me later.". In 1881, Alisdair Pye had moved up in the world, becoming engaged to Lady Felicity Haslet. By all accounts he was not eager to admit much about his first marriage to a girl whose occupation on the marriage certificate was listed as "kitchen maid."This reference to Elsie's mother having been a kitchen maid seems to have been a cover. Records from the practice of Dr. Abraham Poore mention her as having been a patient, and mark her occupation as "sweetmeat vendor," recognised as a term used by Poore and a number of close East End colleagues to refer to patients engaged in prostitution. This would certainly fall into line with other facts about the family. He closed his free clinic in Spitalfields, his visits with his child stopped, and in 1882 he signed a contract giving full custody of little Elsie over to James Treewell and that man's new wife, Emily, who was the child's maternal aunt. Elsie moved with the Treewells to a shared house near Bodmin, Cornwall, and later to a cottage in Eglosbray, Cornwall. There, she was educated at a parish school, and later at a school for young ladies endowed by the Neebo family. By adolescence, while Elsie acknowledged Alisdair Pye as her father, she tended to call James and Emily Treewell "Dad and Mum" and to refer to their son John as her little brother. Early Career Elsie's vocal talents had long been recognised by her family and at the local church in Eglosbray. In 1892, John Folton, uncle of Elsie's uncle James Treewell, visited Eglosbray along with his friend, theatrical impresario Hector Olnet. Olnet was impressed enough by the 15-year-old girl's singing and innocent, still childlike looks, to offer Elsie a short contract for a month at his Atelier Theatre in Birmingham. After a great deal of family discussion, the agreement was made. Elsie traveled to Birmingham in the company of Folton and Olnet, and lodged there with pianist Allardyce Sprye, who became her manager. It was Sprye who suggested a stagename, and Elsie chose "Belle" from her Uncle James and Aunt Emily's habit of calling her "little Belle." The first engagement consisted primarily of Elsie performing folk tunes and dancing in the intermissions of Olnet's "spectacular" The Miraculous Murchison, though in the last week she was also convinced to understudy the role of a very young Nell Gwyn in Olnet's upcoming original operetta Strong Waters''Of this production, Elsie wrote "It was awful. Like many spectaculars of the day, the plot was thin as soup - vaguely, Nell was abducted by pirates, a lot of popular songs of the day were performed, and then Charles II showed up and rescued the poor girl. Nothing to write home about." This extended her stay in Birmingham by six weeks, after which the teenager, exhausted, returned to Cornwall. Following a rest at home of two and a half months, Elsie quite willingly went on to London, accompanied initially by her family, to perform a hastily cobbled together act at a group of music halls under Olnet's control. When it became clear that Elsie was destined for a somewhat enduring career, she was trusted by her aunt and uncle to the care of John Folton, who in turn put her up in a house he owned at Ilford. A trusted employee of Folton, Michael Davies, also lived at the house as a sort of bodyguard and companion of the girl. Scandal of Father's Death Dr. Pye, recently made a baronet, heard of his first child's rise in what he called a "filthy profession," and seems to have been bothered by this. He still had not informed his second wife of the existence of a child from his "foolish first marriage," but certain behaviours he displayed around this time made Lady Felicity suspect "that my husband had some connection with the girl singer known as Elsie Belle. If not a connection, then at least a sort of deranged fascination. It frightened me." On the night of 8 June, 1893, while Lady Felicity and their three youngest children were in Wiltshire at her family's estate, Dr. Pye went to Ilford, to the house at 6 Davenent Close where Elsie was staying. From his actions, and a note left at his London house, it seems he was convinced his daughter was being kept "in sin, possibly against her will," by Michael Davies. Upon arriving at the house, Dr. Pye was greeted by Davies at the door, and a struggle ensued between the men over a revolver the doctor had brandished. The noise was enough to wake Elsie, sleeping upstairs, who came down and witnessed the event. According to her own testimony, she came down the stairs and "stopped at the landing above the ground floor. I saw Mr. Davies wrestling what I thought must be a burglar. I said something, I don't know what, and their attention turned to me. Then I recognised the other man. I said " Father?" He looked at me. He seemed mad. He was still battering at Mr. Davies. The gun went off three times. They both fell to the floor, and a policeman who had been passing ran up into the house. I fainted." Michael Davies was shot in the right bicep and had a graze of his right hand. Dr. Pye had been shot in the abdomen. He was speedily attended by doctors, but he died after lingering two days. An inquest was held, with Lady Felicity returning to London to testify as to her husband's recent state of mind. It was determined that "the deceased, having been in a deranged state of mind for some months over the fate of a child he had abandoned, went to this daughter's place of residence and misapprehended the place of a male servant, Michael Davies, in the householdAs Elsie later wrote, "Michael was nothing but a friend and guardian to me. He had no carnal interest in anyone, to my knowledge. My father, like many men, leapt to a conclusion.". The deceased had carried a weapon with him, despite this not being usual habit, and was killed in the course of attempting violence upon an innocent stranger, the aforesaid Mr. Davies, who defended himself." After learning during the inquest of Elsie's connection to her husband, Lady Felicity defended the girl in the press, and even welcomed her into the family home. Career Advancement While the scandal initially caused some minor damage to Elsie's career, it seems after to have actually helped draw positive attention. Elsie was seen as an innocent victim of her father's abandonment and derangement. Allardyce Sprye used this to launch a new act, once again emphasising Elsie's youth (and her appearance of being even younger). The songs and costumes were "mostly somewhat childish," according to critic Lysander McCorkindale, though renowned artist Sir Herman Day found the whole to be "lovely and entirely charming." Entanglement with Sir Herman Day So taken was Day with Elsie that he was compelled to paint her portrait twice in 1894, as well as attempting to arrange a liaison (and possibly a marriage) between Elsie and his then-current paramour, the Honourable Frederick Long-GraceOf this possible affair, Elsie later wrote: "Freddie was a handsome man, and very sweet, but he had as little romantic interest in me as I had in him. After some conversation with my stepmother, Lady Felicity Haslet, I learned of Sir Herman's tendency toward obsessive interest in young girls who reminded him of his late younger sister, and of his tendency to try and induce them toward situations which would mimic the night of her death, that he might "save" her. That chilled any and all interest I had in that particular sweet old gentleman.". New Management and Maturation of Act After Sprye's death in 1896, Elsie was managed exclusively by Richard and Maxwell Olnet, who designed a more mature act for her, pushing for songs with a teasingly adult flavour and costumes more suited for a grown woman. By far her greatest hit of this period was the song ''Mother Would Much Rather I Stayed In Bath which, in spite of its very risqué lyrics, drew little enough criticism and became wildly popular. Also during this time, Elsie became associated with the act of male impersonator Alex Turqué, often playing the sweetheart role and dueting with Turqué on romantic songs. This, if anything, drew the most questionable attention, since Turqué tended to play as a Middle Eastern or "Oriental" man. This drew some ire from people who were offended by the idea of a white girl being in love with a non-white man (Turqué was themself entirely caucasian, though they modeled much of their character on their Syrian stepfather). By 1900, Elsie, now under the management of Ken Dowling, was most associated with a slightly "oblivious, sweet girl" character, performing mildly bawdy songs with an air of being totally unaware of the double entendres present in the lyrics. Only in her performances with Turqué did she play a more knowing, aware young woman, mature enough to be fully engaged in a love affair, with all of the attendant teasing and by-play. Marriage In April, 1902, Elsie took a temporary retirement from the stage when she married Ken Dowling, much to the shock of many who knew them. "I never," said comedian Dicky Stack, "knew two young people with less sense!" Elsie's last performance before the wedding was a week's engagement at the Lydenbeck Round, performing a new variation of the act with Turqué; this time, they played newlyweds. Rumours (apparently unfounded) ran wild that the marriage was "necessary for respectability." After the wedding, the couple settled in Elsie's new house near Chelsea. They seemed quite happy, and Elsie insisted to the press that she had retired "just for a little while, and not because Kenny demanded. I want to have a little rest and try for an ordinary life for a little while." A small jolt of scandal came in May, 1903, when Elsie, clearly pregnant, made a three-night special return to the stage. She performed again with her old colleague Turqué, their newlywed characters now extended to being nervous expecting parents. A few social moralists decried a pregnant woman appearing onstage in "so brazen an act," and one pair of notorious crusaders for decency showed up a week later on the steps of the house near Chelsea, "nattering on," Ken wrote to his godfather, "about shame and whoredom and the wrath of God. Besides that, they were wishing death on poor Else and the baby! MichaelElsie's old friend Michael Davies, then employed as butler in the household and I had to give them a right talking to, as well as escorting them way from the street." The marriage ended in September, 1905, with Elsie successfully winning divorce on grounds of adultery and cruelty. She retained custody of Alice, though was very generous in allowing Ken (who moved just across the street) visitation. Ken also remained as Elsie's manager. Footnotes Category:Individuals Category:19th Century Category:20th Century Category:Performers